03 Jul 2017

Ngami District Health Management Team (DHMT) has pledged  to continue with the malaria elimination strategy.

This comes after efforts realised through the reduction of malaria cases in 2015/16 heightened in 2016/17 due to heavy rains experienced.

Ngami DHMT head, Dr Malebogo Kebabonye-Pusoentsi revealed this when briefing stakeholders at a meeting held in Maun on June 30.

Dr Kebabonye-Pusoentsi said the malaria elimination strategy seemed probable in 2015/2016 with reduced number of cases.

However, she said the progress was reversed by the heavy rains experienced during cyclone Dineo as malaria breeding places increased.

The heavy rains, she noted, changed the malaria transmission condition as it spread to all areas in Botswana, including those that were not synonymous with the disease.

Dr Kebabonye-Pusoentsi noted that about 113 cases were recorded in Ngami District with one death.

She added that the villages of Mababe, Toteng and Tsau were problematic areas in the Ngami area.

The number of cases in Ngami District, she said, resulted in a 1.25 risk level which was above the malaria national expectation of one case in 1 000 people.

Dr Kebabonye-Pusoentsi said many of the cases were indigenous and required intensified interventions in local communities.

She noted that the indoor residual spraying campaign had not attained the 85 per cent target in the past six years, and that some community members were refusing to allow spraying  in their homesteads.

She added that the last spraying season attained 81 per cent.

She noted that refusal incidences would increase reserves for mosquito breeding and of mosquito building resistance against the chemicals which would leave the Ministry of Health and Wellness with less options in the fight against malaria.

Dr Kebabonye-Pusoentsi, however, said DHMT would continue with spraying as the 2017/2018 season would start in October.

She added that they used the contact tracing strategy which helped in investigating further cases of malaria and treatment through a patient who has the disease.

Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital Superintendent, Dr Maxwell Mungisi reiterated that DHMT with its stakeholders should not be swayed by the reversal of achievements in malaria elimination due to heavy rains experienced.

Dr Mungisi said the stakeholder’s meeting was meant to share experiences, ideas and map a way forward for the next intervention strategy. ENDS